Brewing Tea

[Von Broad]

And thus proving that the best cup of tea you can ever get is Audax Tea - that which has been stewing in the pot for well over the optimal 7 minutes [more like 7 hrs] as suggested in this feature!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17030879

I feel better now for all those thousands of brews that have been sitting on the side stewed to the point of being luke warm only to be reclaimed and drunk through fear of waste. Mind you, if it stains a cup like that, what on earth does it do to your insides!

I love tea. Simple as that.

[ludwig]

I used to drink gallons of tea. Now not so much . My favourite , strangely is from a caravan in a thin plastic cup with a load of sugar. especially after and audax. I'm not averse to bone china and cake though

[Fast Bill]

There's nothing finer than a decent cuppa poured from a teapot. Ok I'll accept tea bags on the grounds of sheer laziness on my part but I'll only compromise on the pot if I'm really pushed 

[Pickled Onion]

BS6008 says 6 minutes...

And to start us off - milk first or last?

[clarion]

Black.  And a good mugful.

[Fast Bill]

Milk first. But black is good too.

[Buzz]

Tea is double edged sword.

We all love a cuppa at work but then you find yourself trapped in the endless madness which is the cycle of reciprocal brew making.

Sometimes you just want a quick jack brew without people looking at you like you are about to quaf a mug of freshly strained kittens blood.

[Von Broad]

If it's tea-bag tea then it has to be tea first, milk second, to regulate the desired colour - a nice rich brown.
Tea-pot tea, then either is fine.

If anybody is looking to really looking to p*** me off real proper, then: take a mug, pour some milk in, throw a tea bag in, fill the mug with hot water, chuck a spoon in, give it to me, and walk away 

One of my fussy old bat habits is drinking from a white mug/cup. Nice clean contrast between the rich brown tea and the white porcelain ceramic wall of the mug.
I can't stand tea in dark coloured cups, the colour of mug kind of camouflages the tea.
It doesn't taste the same out of a dark mug either.

Think my grandmother lies at the heart of all this nonsense somehow.

[Arch]

My late friend Tom went on a dig in Orkney, at which there were going to me a majority of non-British students - several Canadians and a German among them. Tom compiled a tongue-in-cheek (but also deadly serious) Tea Protocol to instruct in the art of making tea. It contained references to items such as the Stanton Drew Steam Roller Drivers Agreement, and gave the desired shade of finished brew in terms of the Munsell Chart (a device used to aid the consistent description of soil colour in archaeological reports).

I have a scan on of it, but it must be on the other laptop. It was a work of genius.

Tea first, for me, then milk. Otherwise, one risks over-milking.

[andygates]

Tea's brilliant. Refreshing in a way that coffee ain't.  And it's hard to make bad tea.  It's easy to make bad coffee.  It's the Sturmey Archer beverage that won the war, wot wot.

[AndyK]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/vnvYymrCn4g&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/vnvYymrCn4g&rel=1</a>

[Jurek]

Tea's brilliant. Refreshing in a way that coffee ain't.  And it's hard to make bad tea.  It's easy to make bad coffee.  It's the Sturmey Archer beverage that won the war, wot wot.

Mostly, if not entirely, correct AG. 

[teethgrinder]

Can't beat a good brew while sitting in a tent in a torrential downpour.

[Cudzoziemiec]

For some reason, I haven't been drinking as much tea lately as I used to. In fact, I've got into a worrying lemon-and-ginger habit and have even been seen drinking coffee! Nevertheless, tea is what I drink most of and like best. I'm not fussed about teabags or teapots or China vs India, but I do like it strong and black. No sugar - in fact I dislike sweet drinks in general, although I have quite a sweet tooth for food. But a cup of sweet, milky chai once saved my life (literally - it was the first thing I asked for when I regained consciousness and without it, I doubt I've had made it home and then to hospital). In fact, I think I'll put the kettle on right now.

[Paul]

Tea's brilliant. Refreshing in a way that coffee ain't. 

Completely.

And it's hard to make bad tea.

This is not my experience, but perhaps I am just picky.

It's easy to make bad coffee.

 

Yes.

[andrew_s]

And it's hard to make bad tea.

Any number of foreign bars, cafes and restaurants seem to manage it quite easily. I just give up and drink coffee when abroad.

The problem is quite simple - they just give you a cup of not hot enough water, with a teabag on a string sitting in the saucer ready for you to brew to your own taste. The problem is that it isn't possible when the water's only 70-80°.

[hbunnet]

Any number of foreign bars, cafes and restaurants seem to manage it quite easily. I just give up and drink coffee when abroad.

The problem is quite simple - they just give you a cup of not hot enough water, with a teabag on a string sitting in the saucer ready for you to brew to your own taste. The problem is that it isn't possible when the water's only 70-80°.

Exactly right. I have been working abroad for years and my best solution is to bring in a flask every day, because there is no way of boiling water.  When I get back to my flat and have my first proper cup, the diference is chalk/cheese.

[Efrogwr]

The Printed Textiles Technician at Batley Art School starred in a short BBC film, demonstrating the Yorkshire Tea Ceremony. In Japan.

As he helped me with my practical projects, should I submit this as a Tenuous Claim To Fame?

[Cudzoziemiec]

Saving energy is good but some things, like good tea, are more important.

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/british-gas/microwave-tea-114714870.html

[AndyK]

Saving energy is good but some things, like good tea, are more important.

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/british-gas/microwave-tea-114714870.html

Make tea in a pot and you save even more energy. I get three cups from my small teapot. That's one boiled kettle for three brews.

[David Martin]

Tea is hard to make well. Very easy to mess up.

Sins:
Using tepid water that has been standing on the 'not quite hot enough' plate on a coffee maker.
Milk + teabag + spoon + not boiling water.
Water that has had all the air boiled out of it so it gives grey tea.
Southampton.

How to do it right:
1. fresh cold water. If you don't have fresh cold water then get a bottle, half fill it with water and shake it like crazy for at least 10 minutes (good tea is worth it).
2. Select the right tea for the situation. Some demand a light, black tea. Others something more robust from high in the mountains with a healthy dollop of cow juice.
3. Boil the water and prewarm the china. Bag or leaf don't make too much difference but get the water in hot.
4. Stir like a dervish. This gets all the colour and flavour out quicker whilst the slower diffusing tannins are left behind.
5. If you like it stewed then leave it for a while. If you don't want tannins to coat your insides then stir rapidly and move on.
6. Milk. The right amount depending on the type of tea and taste. Likewise for sugar and lemon.
7. You will notice that fresh oxygenated water gives a 'bright' tea of a glorious chestnut hue. 'flat' water at best gives something that looks like last weeks dishwater, and at worst tastes like it (DAHIKT).
8. Allow to cool to the perfect temperature, sit back and enjoy.
9. Clean up after yourself.

There are few places that do really good tea. The only decent cup of tea I had on my 3 week tour of the US in 1993 was at the base of the WTC when I was able to persuade the stall holder to let me show him how to do tea properly.

The blend of tea is also important. Different water will give different results for the same tea. Different teas response to different water will vary. Soft water gives much nicer tea, however London chalk is not too bad if you use the correct blend 9somethign like PG tips works well). Yorkshire tea is good in hard water areas of limestone. No tea tastes good in Southampton - fair is the best you are going to do there. Tetley is nice in soft water.

That is for the 'everyday breakfast tea' For lazy summer afternoons a weak (ie not much tea), long stewed darjeeling or green tea in a cafetiere is just right black.  Coming in from a winter walk or ride to a warm hut demands a cupmug of strong Assam with milk.

 

[AndyK]

Tea is hard to make well. Very easy to mess up.

Sins:
Using tepid water that has been standing on the 'not quite hot enough' plate on a coffee maker.
Milk + teabag + spoon + not boiling water.
Water that has had all the air boiled out of it so it gives grey tea.
Southampton.

How to do it right:

 

See:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/vnvYymrCn4g&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/vnvYymrCn4g&rel=1</a>

[Cudzoziemiec]

How to do it right:
1. fresh cold water. If you don't have fresh cold water then get a bottle, half fill it with water and shake it like crazy for at least 10 minutes (good tea is worth it).
2. Select the right tea for the situation. Some demand a light, black tea. Others something more robust from high in the mountainswith a healthy dollop of cow juice.
3. Boil the water and prewarm the china. Bag or leaf don't make too much difference but get the water in hot.
4. Stir like a dervish. This gets all the colour and flavour out quicker whilst the slower diffusing tannins are left behind.
5. If you like it stewed then leave it for a while. If you don't want tannins to coat your insides then stir rapidly and move on.
6. Milk. The right amount depending on the type of tea and taste. Likewise for sugar and lemon.
7. You will notice that fresh oxygenated water gives a 'bright' tea of a glorious chestnut hue. 'flat' water at best gives something that looks like last weeks dishwater, and at worst tastes like it (DAHIKT).
8. Allow to cool to the perfect temperature, sit back and enjoy.
9. Clean up after yourself.

Are you sure you've got that bit right? Or perhaps you mean something different than what I understand by 'robust'. Tea grown at high altitude is usually less 'robust' ie paler and fewer tannins but a more distinct flavour.

I'm glad you included point 9. 

[Von Broad]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/vnvYymrCn4g&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/vnvYymrCn4g&rel=1</a>

Ah yes, we've had it referenced here before but always worth another viewing I feel.

Those accents. The enormous tea chest [remember tea chests?....those born after 1970 probably won't!]. And the brand - 'Finest Empire Tea'. Sponsored by the Empire Tea Bureau. 1941 - and the bombing.

Call me old-fashioned [actually you've no need, I think I am in a lot of ways], but I find that video kind of moving in a strange way. Not wishing to yearn for times past in any sense [who wants bombing again], but there's a kind of simplicity and a basic honesty displayed there that is somehow honorable, broadcasting this sene of confidence and reassurance, and made in a era that was anything but. Looking at it in 2012, it's also just utterly bizzare.

Notice how the women are drinking their tea from big white china cups - See.....I told you 

But beware - fresh from last nights internet session where I was reminding myself about the life of Mick Magahey [Googling on from reading about the Scargill court case in Sheffield] - I think the narrator/instructor is a definitely a Communist. Those eye lashes are just incredible. He looks Russian to me for sure.

[AndyK]

I make my tea in a pot and drink it from a large cup and saucer. It tastes better that way.